The Next Avatar: Book 1: Shadow
by thetimewalker2237
Summary: Ancient evil spirit benders have killed Avatar Korra. Will the next Avatar be able to restore balance to the world?


_Fire, Air, Water, Earth. Only the Avatar can master all four elements, and keep balance between them. But are there only four elements? The forces within ourselves can be bent and corrupted. Upon the death of Avatar Korra, such forces a primed to bend the world to their whim. Can the next Avatar restore balance to the world?_

_Seventy years after the events of the Equalist revolution:_

Korra awoke to the sounds of construction outside her building. The same construction that had been destroying her sleep for the past month now. She was tired, truly fatigued, both from lack of sleep and the general fatigue of age. She pushed herself off her bed with her now feebly week arms. She made it out of bed and waked slowly over to her living room to find her grandson and his daughter there for no apparent reason. Korra was surprised but glad to see them, especially her new great grand-daughter.

"It is so nice to see you, Tenzin," she said as she looked down at the infant sleeping in his arms, "So how is little Xinzang?"

"She's been fine, Grandma. Finally started sleeping through the night," Tenzin said as he watched his sleeping child with shear happiness on his face. A thought seemed to cross his mind, and then he reached into his bag and drew out a box wrapped in decorative paper with polar bear-dogs all over it. "I almost forgot," he said quickly, "Happy birthday, Grandma!"

Korra was stunned. She had no idea it was her birthday. This made her what, 87, 88? She had lost track of the years by this point. She thanked her grandson and after some fumbling was able to open the present, revealing a new digital watch.

"What is this doohickey?" Korra asked in bewilderment. Her grandson started to explain, but she was lost after the word "electric." She tried to pay attention, but could keep up with the technobabble.

Suddenly, Korra felt something. She didn't notice anything with her failing sense, but rather within her, almost in her soul. She felt it like she did when she spoke with her past lives, but instead of the calming voice of another avatar, all she felt was emptiness. Blackness with undertones of pure evil. It was enough to wake the baby, who started balling.

_Somewhere, in a forgotten corner of the world, five pillars have stood since the begging of time. One of mind, one of voice, one of heart, one of bone, one of soul. They have stood for millennia, balanced upon each other. This day the ground beneath the pillars shook. The sky howled and the sea surrounding churned. The sun and the moon crossed paths, creating a shade between day and night. The pillars finally buckled, revealing what had been sealed away for eons. Though their bodies had long ago returned to the dust from whence they came, their souls had become restless. Upon the breaking of the seal, they flew out into the world to envelop it in chaos anew._

Tenzin Jr. rushed his grandmother through town in his newish Lettuce Drive (trademark Cabbage Corp.), his child still screaming in the back seat. They rushed through the tight streets of Republic City toward the old council building, which thankfully was still were the council convened. It was even more thankful they were in session. Councilman Taifeng, the new air representative, was extremely worrisome as the elderly Avatar arrived.

"Avatar," he said with fear, "So I'm not just being paranoid. Something dark _has_ emerged?"

"Unfortunately," the elderly Avatar answered, "the spirits are in turmoil. Darkness has emerged and is spreading quickly. I don't have any idea what it is, but we need to prepare for the worst."

At that word, the lights suddenly went out. Storm clouds had formed over the city, making the mid-morning as dark as midnight. The council building was even darker. Korra lit a small flame in hopes of seeing. She then felt the darkness grow stronger, closer. The flame she lit went out, as if someone had passed her, headed for the councilmen. Suddenly she heard screaming coming from the councilmen. They were primal screams of pain, as if they were being ripped apart, limb from limb. Korra threw a blast of fire over the councilmen's heads to reveal the attackers, but all that was revealed was the councilmen, contorted in pain. Suddenly, the screaming ended, replaced with silence, then a lite chuckle that grew slowly as four other chuckles joined in. Korra sent another blast of fire, but its light revealed a now vacated council table.

From behind her she heard a voice that sounded like evil incarnate, "Good bye, again, Avatar!"

That was the last thing Korra ever heard, before a colder, longer darkness enveloped her.

In a suburb of Republic City, in a new hospital, screams of a different kind were heard. A mother in labor. These screams soon quieted and were replaced by a wailing infant's. It was a boy. The parents named him Gujia. He grew and found that he was a powerful earth bender, just like his mom. His dad was a fire bender, as was his sister, Sixiang. They grew up peacefully, never knowing what evil lurked within the hearts of the people around them.

**Quick explanation: In Kanifan (Canifian) thought there are five elements: fire, air, water, earth, and DARKNESS (though they usually prefer to translate it as "moonlight"). They also represent aspects of the body: fire is the mind, air is the voice, water is the blood or heart, earth is the bone, and Darkness is the SOUL. I thought that it would make a good parallel to energy bending, which is what those dark spirits will do. The characters are named for the Chinese for the body aspects: Xinzang means heart, Gujia means skeleton, Sixiang means thought. I tried to time the intervals so that the main part of the story is in modern times (at least modern tech like smart phones).**

**And just a fair warning, I'm not the fastest guy to update. Please review! Thank you for reading the ramblings of another insane man.**

"**There is no such thing as sanity, only varying degrees of insanity." –Jackson Creager **


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